President Trump should base a new anti-terrorism team for the Pacific in American Samoa

Members of the Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team Pacific, 2nd Company, 2nd Platoon, pictured in 2012. (U.S. Navy/James Norman)

In the Pacific, the Trump Administration has inherited a set of US embassies and consulates that is different from the one that they managed during their prior term in office. Since then, the regional diplomatic footprint has expanded to include new embassies in Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu.

The administration therefore needs to think carefully about what US military posture changes are needed to be able to mitigate the diplomatic security risks for US embassies, consulates, and consular agencies in Fiji, French Polynesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu — all areas of interest for the US as it seeks to counter China.

One simple solution: The president and the Pentagon should consider the activation of a new Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team (FAST) Company South Pacific, an elite unit of Marines which can be rapidly deployed to immediately secure US diplomats, officials, embassies or other US personnel or property.

The Marine Corps Security Force Regiment has a small number of FAST Companies that are forward deployed to overseas military bases, including in Bahrain, Spain and Japan. These OCONUS forces provide Geographic Combatant Commanders with a unique set of rapid response expeditionary anti-terrorism and security capabilities that can be used to protect national assets and conduct other limited duration contingency operations. Among other things, the FAST Companies provide Geographic Combatant Commanders with a unique set of capabilities for rapidly responding to non-traditional security threats against US diplomatic missions and their staff. A well-known example would be the 2012 attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi.

Adding a second FAST unit in the Pacific would send a loud signal that the US government is committed to making investments necessary to protect the safety and security of US diplomatic personnel and military forces across this vast region.

It would also be logistically sound, as the current Asia-Pacific FAST Company is located in Japan but has responsibilities in the entire Pacific region. A second FAST would provide a much-needed rapid response and forward-deployed expeditionary anti-terrorism security forces that could also respond to other non-traditional crises involving US diplomatic and military postures in the Pacific Islands.

If the DoD determines that such an investment is warranted, then they should next consider where to station the unit. In our opinion, the best option would be to select the Pele US Army Reserve Center in American Samoa.

American Samoa has the air and maritime port infrastructure that is required to be able to respond to the full range of possible crises and contingencies. It is also the US permanently inhabited territory in closest proximity to our new and planned diplomatic posts in Melanesia and Polynesia. That makes it an optimal location for projecting rapid response and forward-deployed expeditionary security forces for the purpose of ensuring diplomatic security across the region.

President Donald Trump has openly criticized how the Obama administration responded to the attack on Benghazi that resulted in the deaths of United States Ambassador Christopher Stevens and American diplomat Sean Smith. He has criticized how the Biden Administration mitigated the known threats associated with the Kabul Airlift that resulted in the deaths of over a dozen American service members.

FAST Companies can help on the front line of threats to Americans abroad under his new administration. And decisions can be made quickly about them — the National Security Council could order an assessment of FAST Companies within 60 days, and come out of that with posture recommendations.

If such a review happens, it will become obvious that in the South Pacific, the United States government faces a number of challenges. The biggest is that there is a high level of risk for either natural or manmade crises in a number of countries that host US diplomatic missions. There is also the risk of major power competition destabilizing the region even further.

A FAST Company South Pacific could help to mitigate both of those risks. From the CCP focus on the region to the possibility of the aftermath following any natural disaster at the location of a US embassy in the Pacific Islands, there are increasing reasons to have FAST capabilities in readiness in the South Pacific.

Stationing a FAST unit in American Samoa would strengthen the hand of US diplomacy in the South Pacific and bolster the sense of US presence and attention among allied partnerships in the island nations.

Rep. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen is the Member of Congress representing American Samoa in the United States House of Representatives.

Michael Walsh is a subject matter expert on Pacific Affairs.